Fire Within
by ChocoBanana Parfait
Summary: Swords and shields will break easily, but magic is a force that can't be extinguished. Shantotto teaches Terra the true strength of magic.


Disclaimer- all characters belong to Square-Enix

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She came upon them like a storm, literally. When Tidus and Frioniel first saw her, she used lightning magic to strike at them; Frioniel had blocked her attacks with his shield, and Tidus had casted haste to dodge from them.

"A Time Mage, interesting." The small magician seemed intrigued, "but unfortunately, I am not looking for you."

She moved through the group of warriors with ease, dodging their physical attacks without any effort and only seriously confronting them if they used magic against her. She looked bored at their attempts of stopping her, for there was no other magic that could stand up against hers. She was mildly impressed with Onion Knight's display of magic, but she still chastised him for not being able to control the magic well enough ("Your fires are too big and your Meteors are too small!")

Enough was enough. "Where is your last warrior?" The mage looked at each warrior's face, challenging them to defy her. "I felt a strong magical presence, and I didn't even feel a speck from each of you when you charged at me.

Cloud stepped up to her. "Why do you want to know?"

The little mage started to tap her foot in impatience. "Because I need to train their magic. It is powerful indeed, but it could grow even stronger and become more of an asset in your battle against Chaos."

Cloud looked to Onion Knight. They both knew that Terra didn't want to fight unless it was absolutely necessary, and even though she round some resolution to fight after finding her crystal, they both sensed that she was still a bit wary of her powers. Onion Knight turned away from the group. "I'll be back with her."

"No need for that, just take me to her right now." The mage started to walk away from the group. "Also," she turned to face the warriors, "it would be wise not to come near us. You wouldn't want to get burned badly just before the final battle now, would you?"

As Onion Knight was taking their visitor away, Zidane piped up to ask, "So, who exactly is she?"

Squall just gave a shrug. "Hell if I know, I've never seen her before.

* * *

Terra felt a great magical force approaching, and it made her own magic tingle in her body and she started shivering; whether it was out of fear or excitement Terra didn't actually know. There was something terrifying about the magic, but it didn't feel too hostile.

"Hey Terra! There's someone here wh-" But before he could finish his sentence, the mystery mage shot out a blast of ice which Terra quickly deflected with fire out of instinct. The mage gave Terra a satisfied smirk. "Now this looks promising."

Onion Knight wasn't as happy with the situation as the mage. "Hey, what do you think you're doing? You could've hurt Terra!"

The mage waved her hand at the boy, but kept her gaze on Terra. "You have served your purpose, you may leave now. Go train with the other warriors back there."

"Why you little-"

"Don't worry about me, it's okay." Terra's words stopped him in his tracks. "I'll be fine, it doesn't feel like she's going to hurt me. Tell everyone that everything's okay."

"If you say so." Onion Knight gave one last look at the pair before he headed off to join the others.

"Well, now that are the distractions are gone," Terra's focus returned to the stranger in front of her, "let's see what you're made of. Come at me."

Terra felt a rush of magic go to her fingers, but she was hesitant to release it. Somehow, this mage was drawing out her magic, but Terra was afraid that too much magic would come out and she wouldn't be able to control it, that she would hurt the stranger.

"Are you afraid of hurting me?" Terra gave a start, how did she know what she was thinking? "Never mind hurting me, I can assure you that no matter how much you attack me, I will not have one burn on me in the end."

Terra couldn't bring herself to attack. She was getting used to attacking the manikins, but real people she still felt hesitant about. "But..."

"If you won't come at me, then I'm going to attack you." Without further warning, the mage started to blast all sorts of elemental spells around Terra. Fire sparked to her left, the ground rushed out in spikes with Earth attacks, and Water threatened to drown her. Terra cast Blizzara and Thundara to counter the spells, and the mage looked pleased.

"That's it. Now draw out more power and don't just counter my attacks, attack me directly!" Terra didn't know how it was possible, but the other mage's magic grew more powerful. Lightning came down from the skies, Ice grew to the size of boulders, and the Wind started to become miniature tornadoes.

Terra's magic grew and responded to her opponent's own magic. She started to blast out holy spells, floods of water, and her own tornadoes.

The mage was shining with excitement. "Wonderful! Now, really tap into your power! Unleash everything you have at me!"

She wanted to, oh how wonderful it would feel to release all of her magic from her fingers- they were pulsing with the need to let go. But one thought lingered in her mind- the thought of hurting people she cared about, and the fact that this power was exactly the thing that Kefka treasured her for, her destructive power.

"I-" Terra was on the verge of releasing an Ultima spell from her hands, "...I can't!" At the last moment, Terra held the spell back, and she felt a burn go throughout her hands and up her arms at the forceful block of her spell. She sat on the ground and cradled her arms to help relieve some of the pressure that built up.

The mage stopped her casting and walked towards Terra. "Tell me, what makes you so afraid of your power?"

Terra felt like a child being scolded by her guardian. "I, I am afraid of destroying everything around me, of hurting the people close to me." She looked up apprehensively at the mage. "I do not want this power of destruction. I just want to be able to help my friends."

"Foolish child," the mage flicked Terra's forehead with a finger, "magic is not the power of destruction. We are mediums of the powers of nature, chosen ones who can call upon great forces to help develop civilization and progress for Men. There was still skeptical look in Terra's eyes, so the mage continued. "Yes, there is destruction, but that is also a natural part of life. From destruction comes creation, and if that creation grows uncontrolled or comes to the end of its life, then destruction comes again. The cycle goes on for eternity. The question is, how will you control it?"

Terra felt a spark of hope, but there was still a feeling of doubt in her mind. "Water and Wind is helpful for people, yes, but Fire can grow uncontrolled and destroy everything." She cast her eyes down to the ground, "And it is the Fire that calls out to me the most. And even if magic comes from nature, I don't have a physical build strong enough to control it."

The mage sighed. "It seems like a demonstration is in order. Watch me carefully. Look at how I control my magic, even though my body is this size." She took her staff in her hands and concentrated her magic in the orb of her staff. As she raised the staff above her head, Terra felt her magic die at the pressure of the other's magic. She had never seen anything like this- wind tunnels were being formed, the earth gave way to make canyons, water formed huge waves, and ice grew to be as big as glaciers. And in the sky, the lightning was dancing throughout the clouds and fire surrounded them in a huge column. Terra flinched when the column was closing in around her, but relaxed when she felt the other mage controlling the flames, knowing that she wouldn't be harmed.

"Look at all this power, can't you feel it? Don't you feel your magic calling out to respond to it? You were born with a gift that others dream of, that they wish they could grasp, and yet you try to throw it away!" The mage combined the fire and lightning together, normally wild and destructive forces controlled in one controlled column of magic. "Physical stature is nothing, the power of magic comes from your soul, your innermost being! Some of your other warriors may have the ideal physical build to control magic, but they choose to fight with swords and weapons." She made the wind and water join the column of fire and lightning. Terra thought the water would extinguish the fire and the wind make the lightning go astray, but each element was holding fast and not interfering with the others. "Your warriors will stand and fight to keep you safe because they believe you do not have the potential for fighting, but that is wrong! They will fall too easily, and you will remain in the end. Their swords and shields will break, and they'll have nothing else to rely on, their magic is far too weak, they do not embrace that power. But you! You will protect them when everything fades, when their bodies are too weary to swing their weapons and when their legs are too scarred to let them walk!"

The earth joined the column and the mage gave Terra a stern look. "You wished for the power to protect your friends, but you are running away from it. You are denying your bloodline, your birthright! If you cannot control this power, then you aren't worthy to fight in this war!" And with that declaration, the mage sent the column of magic straight towards the girl.

Her body was pulsing, feeling the rush of magical power around her. Hearing the mage's words, Terra started to find more confidence. How right she was- magic felt so natural and an actual part of herself, but she had been denying her powers in fear of being controlled or hated by destroying lives. But here was this tiny mage, revelling in her magic and how much power she had at her fingertips. Terra finally let her inhibitions go and let the mage's magic interact with her own, not feeling a harmful burn, but streams of power rush through her. She played with the elements swirling around her before she sent them back to nature with less grace than when the mage had summoned them, but Terra found new confidence in her powers.

"Excellent." She turned to see the mage with a pleased smile on her face. "As long as your soul and determination do not waver, your magic will be a force to be reckoned with. I am done with your training now, it is time for you to return to your comrades." Having said that, the mage started to walk away.

"Wait!" Terra squatted down to be eye level with her mentor. "Thank you for everything you have taught me. Please, tell me your name."

"Hmph. Well, you were an excellent student, so I suppose I can tell you. My name is Shantotto. Now go on, the others are coming for you." With a wave, Shantotto was gone, and in her place was a straw doll.

Terra picked up the doll as her friends joined her. "Uh, hey, you alright? We saw some crazy stuff going on got a little worried," Bartz asked.

Terra gave them a big smile. "Everything's great. I feel ready to go up against Chaos. I won't be a hindrance to you, and I'll be able to fight on my own, trust me." Their leader gave her a small nod, and they all went off to rest to prepare for the upcoming battle against Chaos.

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Author's note- So, this kinda became a little bit more epic (and longer) than I thought it would be originally. But I thought it would be nice if Shantotto and Terra got together at least once and had a magic party/training session/something together, being the only two girls and main magic users among Cosmos warriors. I also wrote this one before Duodecim got announced, so now there's more girls who can do magic, but whatevs :)


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